My Sympathy Meter is Pegged

…as well.

…House Insurance Committee Chairman Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland, said he is drafting legislation that would require Citizens to phase out its 6,024 million-dollar policies in the next two years. Also, a top lawmaker from Tampa said Monday he might call for an investigation into Citizens’ rates.
These developments come after The Tampa Tribune reported Sunday that Citizens’ premiums for million-dollar homes are often lower than those charged by private companies.
Ross wants to make it much harder for millionaire homeowners to get coverage from consumer-backed Citizens until the policies are phased out. Under his plan, homeowners seeking coverage from Citizens for more than $1 million must prove they can’t get a policy in the private market, even the unregulated surplus lines market. Surplus lines carriers generally offer custom policies for expensive homes at a premium price.
To millionaires worried about paying more for insurance, Ross said: “You’re not going to generate a lot of sympathy.”
…Citizens’ low rates are partly to blame for the company’s $2.2 billion deficit after eight hurricanes pounded the state in the past two storm seasons.
Now all Florida property owners with insurance are bailing out the insurer.

categories Life | | datetime March 28, 2006 9:45 am

One Response to “My Sympathy Meter is Pegged”

  1. Dave J says:
    March 28, 2006 at 1:00 pm

    All you’ve said is fair, but the point my bosses never once seemed to really grasp is that insurers are free to leave the state, which they’ve been doing in droves for decades, not just with respect to homeowners’ coverage, but in every context.
    My thoughts on Mr. Ross in particular are, again, not really for public consumption here, so e-mail me when you can, THS.

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